Another second-half collapse hurts Temple in loss to No. 18 SMU

If Temple was going to beat an up-tempo, 18th-ranked SMU team, it was going to take a shootout.

The Owls were able to hang around for the first half, leading by six at one point, but the Mustangs ran up the count, scoring 30 second-half points culminating in a 47-23 rout of Temple Saturday afternoon at Lincoln Financial Field.

The Owls (1-4) were without 15 players due to injuries and having players in the COVID protocol. The lack of depth forced head coach Rod Carey to send true freshmen and walk-ons out onto the field.

“When you’re down this many guys, you are going to run out of gas,” Carey said postgame. “But it doesn’t matter. If you’re playing the game, you’re playing the game to win.”

Trad Beatty started under center for the second straight week while Anthony Russo continues to rehab an injury in his AC joint in his right throwing shoulder. Beatty got off to a hot start, completing his first pass to Randle Jones on a screen pass that he took 75 yards to the house. Beatty finish with 129 yards on 8 of 12 passing.

Late in the first half, Beatty was sacked for an 8-yard loss that left him shaken up after taking a knee to the head. He walked off the field under his own power but came out of the locker room in the second half wearing street clothes.

Re-al Mitchell was given the keys to the offense for the remainder of the day while Russo was in full pads and staying warm on the sideline for emergencies only. Carey said postgame that in the event Russo had to play, they would have limited the offense to keeping the ball on the ground.

Carey indicated earlier in the week he would stick to his plan of starting Beatty, bringing in Mitchell soon after and seeing if one could heat up. Beatty’s injury kept him out for the entirety of the second half, but Mitchell struggled to find a groove even with consecutive possessions.

His lone touchdown, which was also his first passing touchdown in a Temple uniform, came on a lob pass to tight end Aaron Jarman with less than a minute to go and the game well out of reach.

“More comfortable than I thought, honestly,” Mitchell said about his comfort level going into his second game. “I always try to be calm and collected. I think last week just getting my feet wet was really beneficial to this week.”

Mitchell finished the day completing 11 of his 21 passing attempts for 103 yards but found a majority of his success on the ground with 66 yards on 17 rushing attempts.

Down 26-16 early in the fourth quarter, Temple had a chance to cut the deficit and keep the game competitive. With the ball on Temple's 34-yard line, Carey and offensive coordinator Mike Uremovich opted to go for it on fourth-and-1. A designed QB power draw up the middle for Mitchell was stuffed at the line of scrimmage when SMU linebacker Richard McBryde blew up the play.

The Mustangs took over on downs with great field position, and the sequence led to a string of three unanswered touchdowns for SMU, starting with Tyler Lavine's 2-yard touchdown run three plays later.

“All I can really say is it was a power type of run and I had the ball in my hand trying to get the 12 inches or whatever it was,” Mitchell said. “And it just didn’t pan out.”

Earlier in the week, Re’Mahn Davis announced on his social media accounts that he would be opting out of the season and entering his name in the transfer portal. Redshirt senior running back Tayvon Ruley was the next man up to start in his place.

Ruley said he was shocked when he got the phone call Wednesday morning from Davis informing him of the decision.

“He called me in the morning saying, ‘I talked to the coaches and I got suspended,’” Ruley said. “He was telling me everything they were talking about and what he was going to do next. I was shocked.”

Ruley hadn’t seen more than six carries in a game all season. He had 15 against SMU, capitalizing for 66 yards and a 3-yard touchdown run that helped give Temple a 13-7 lead late in the first quarter.

Temple played a near-complete first half of football, holding the Mustang’s offense in check while putting points up on the board against a defense known for forcing turnovers.

In the last three first halves, the Owls have outscored opponents 31-30. They held a 13-10 going into the locker room that quickly unraveled in the second half. As for their last three second halves, they have been outscored 65-24, including Saturday’s defeat.

Temple’s front seven limited the American’s leading rusher, Ulysses Bentley IV. Bentley picked up 79 yards on the ground on 17 attempts with just one rush for over 10 yards. His one big play came on a 37-yard rush early in the fourth quarter.

The Mustangs’ offense was largely controlled by quarterback Shane Buechele, who completed 24 of his 35 passing attempts and torched Temple’s secondary for 355 yards and four touchdowns through the air.

With a shorthanded defense, true freshman Alex Odom started at the field safety position. Cornerback Freddie Johnson and linebacker Yvandy Rigby were both sidelined with injuries, while fellow linebacker Jordan Magee was out because of the team’s COVID protocol. Their absences allowed for four true freshmen to see snaps in Saturday’s loss, including linebacker Kobe Wilson, who just came out of quarantine on Thursday.

It was more of the same from a depleted Temple defense that struggled to contain SMU during its second-half scoring burst.

“I think mainly it’s about communicating and making sure everyone is in their gap,” senior linebacker Will Kwenkeu said. “In the past few games, we’ve shown that we’re starting well in the first, we just have to make sure we’re finishing with the same intensity.”

Second half crumbles have been a recurring theme for Temple the last few weeks. The Owls don’t have a lot of time to turn their misfortunes around as they attempt to stick together with just one win and three games remaining in their shortened season.